Literary notes about Axis (AI summary)
The term “axis” is deployed with remarkable versatility in literature, straddling both technical precision and evocative metaphor. In scientific and technical contexts, it frequently denotes a central line or point of rotation—illustrated by descriptions of the earth turning on its axis [1, 2], optical rays aligned near a central line [3, 4, 5], and even mechanics where forces are resolved relative to a fixed axis [6]. At the same time, “axis” functions as a metaphor for centrality and stability in social or natural settings, as when it represents an individual's core in relation to society or the spine around which life revolves [7, 8, 9]. This dual usage enriches the word’s connotation in literature, lending depth to both its literal and figurative applications.
- 1. The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through the centre of each and every town or city.
— from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes - You see the earth takes twenty-four hours to turn round on its axis— Duchess Talking of axes, chop off her head!
— from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Alice Gerstenberg - Two rays, A , are parallel to the axis and enter the lens near the centre (Fig. 113).
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - In the same way, the angle formed by the rope with the vertical axis of the machine, indicates the velocity .
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe - This mirror (Fig. 128) is of such a shape that all rays parallel to the axis are reflected to a common point.
— from How it Works by Archibald Williams - Rotation of the ball about its axis of flight.
— from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson - A man may move rightly in his social orbit, without revolving rightly on his own axis.
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle - [109] They who made England, Italy, or Greece venerable in the imagination did so by sticking fast where they were, like an axis of the earth.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson - It follows the long axis of the body in the shape of a cylindrical axial rod of elastic but firm composition, equally pointed at both ends.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton
